Food product and process of preparing same



, Patented Feb. 12 1924.

PATENT o VFICE.

CHARLES EDWIN FENLON, OF SANDWICH, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE JAHN-FENLON 00., OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FOOD PRODUCT AND PROCESS OF PREPARING SAME.

No Drawing. Application filed November To all whom it may cmwcrrn Be it'known that I, CHARLES EDWIN FEN- LON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Sandwich, in the county of De Kalb and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Food Products and Processes of Preparing Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. v

This invention relates to an improved food product and the process of preparing the same, and relates more particularly to the treatment of fresh cream.

The object of my invention is to so treat fresh cream that, when placed in hermetically sealed containers, the fat contents will remain in perfect suspension for an indefinite perio Much hasbeen accomplished in the, treatment of milk, both skimmed and unskimmed, and in the preparation of socalled condensed milk and evaporated milk. All efforts to apply similar processes to fresh cream or to apply other treatment to fresh cream to accomplish the above stated objects have apparently failed, either because the fat contents do not re main in. suspension in the liquid for any appreciable time or because of the difficulties attendant in the course of the treatment; and particularly with respect to the application-of heat whereby disastrous results occur. One of the most noticeable objections is the absence of the pure, original milk or cream flavor.

I have discovered that in preparing an eighteen per cent, or a twenty-two or a twenty-four per cent cream, I can eliminate the desired amount. of Water, produce the desired amount of condensation, and the desired viscosity of the cream to put it in that condition, where the fat will remain in suspension for indefinite periods by treating the cream in a vacuum pan followed by ressure in a homogenizer and'sterllizatlon 1n hermetically sealed containers.

In practicing my inv tion, fresh cream is used, and in preparin ga say, an e1 hteen per cent cream product, p ac esired quantity or batch of fresh cream in a, suit-" 1a, 1918. Serial No. 263,069.

able vacuum pan, and-condense it in the usual manner to a desired degree of condensation, namely: so that the resultant product will contain at least thirty-two per cent of total solids, after at least ten per cent of water has been evaporated. The greater the fat contents in the resultant product, the less condensation required.

The object of this step of the process is to reduce or standardize the cream to a predetermined solid content, including both butter fat and other solids, not fat. I then draw off the cream at a temperature ranging between 120 and 150 Fahrenheit, and put the same through a homogenizer or viscalizer under a pressure of at least five hundred pounds break up the. fat globules. This pressure varles with the percentage of butter fat to remain in the resultant product. That is to say, if the resultant product is to be an eighteen per cent cream, I 'use less pressure in the homogenizer than where the resultant product is to besay, a twenty-four per cent cream; and in some cases, the pressure may run to three thousand pounds per square inch. v

After the fat globules have been thus broken up. under pressure, by the action of the homogenizer, I then place the liquid in hermetically sealed containers, and subject the same to sterilization at a temperature varyingfrom 179 to 250 Fahrenheit, depending upon the quality of the cream. In no case do I permit the heat of steriliza-- tion to scorch the cream cream a decided cooked such a temperaturef as cream that quality which to the taste would appear as though the cream had been oversterilized In other words, care is to be taken in sterilization so that the cream will retain substantially its natural flavor.

he mass must be subjected to a steriliztemperature of between 179 to 250 I*ahrenheit'for a period of approximately twenty-four minute What temperature shall be. used and the length of time will flavor or to be of depend upon the condition and quality ofper square inch, to

so asto give the to impart to the,

bacteria are completely destroyedand steril- I izat-ion is accomplished, the period of time varying according 'to the nature of the cream and the quality of the batch being treated. This may be determined by a test run with cream from the batch to be treated (and which is already in closed cans as above described) using a Mojonnier viscosity tester or viscosimeter. 1 (Said tester includes a ball suspended on a long wire /with which is associated a graduated circular scale adap ted to indicate the comparative angles of rotation of the ball in the cream as the viscosity varies.) The sterilizing treatment is continued until the cream reaches 150 to 250 as recorded by "said viscosity tester or viscosimeter. After the. desired viscosity is reached, the sterilization is immediately terminated by cooling the. container of the cream.

The closed cans containing the batch of cream are then sterilized under the same conditions for the length of time determined by the test. After sterilizatiom'the cans are removed from the sterilizing apparatus and are allowed to cool to atmos heric temperature. It will then be foun upon opening a can for examination, that the fat contents are not only in perfect suspension but will remain so for indefinite periods. It will also be found that the resultant food product retains its rich cream flavor, appearance and color and substantially its natural taste; and further, that it gives off to the smell and taste no evidence of being a sterilized or prepared product.

Moreover, after a can has been opened, the cream product will be found in good condition at the end of nine or ten days, if kept in an ordinary domestic refrigerator. After being opened and subjected to ordinary atmospheric temperature, it will nevertheless keep in good condition and be available as a food product for several days.

The cream roduct differs entirely from any product 0 the kind heretofore made in that the fat globules will remain in suspension and be uniformly distributed throughout the contents of the can of cream for an indefinite period, the cream retaining its original liquid form. As already pointed out, the cream retains approximately the flavor of fresh cream without the objectionable cooked flavor that is had by the canned milk and cream products now on In addition, the cream may be whipped,

the market.-

1,4es,42a

which heretofore has been an attribute of fresh cream only.

I claim as my invention:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a liquid cream product made from fresh cream having at least eighteen per cent of butter fat, the butter fat being finely divided and comminuted and the cream having a predetermined solid content including solids not fat, and being of a predetermined viscosity so that the butter fat remain in suspension uniformly distributed through the body of cream for an indefinite period of time.

2. The process consists in taking it'to standardize it to a predetermined solid content of butter fat and of solids not fat; then subjecting the same to the action ofa homogenizer with a pressure adapted to finely divide and comminute the butter fat; then placing the cream 'n hermetically sealed containers, and subjecting the same to sterilization at temperatures from 179 to 250 Fahrenheit during a peri d to be determined by test on a sample, until the viscosity of the cream shall reach a predetermined viscosity.

3. The process of making a prepared food product which consists in introducing fresh cream in a suitable vacuum pan, evaporating the cream to condense it until the resultant product contains at least thirty-two per cent of total solids, drawing off the condensed mass at temperatures ranging between 120 and 150 Fahrenheit, then subjecting the same to the action of a homogenizer with a pressure of at least five hundred pounds per square inch, then placing the cream in hermetically sealed containers and subjecting the same to sterilization at temperatures varying from 17 9 to 250 Fahrenheit for avperiod approximating twenty-four minutes, until the viscosity of the cream will reach 150 to 250 as recorded by a Mojonnier viscosity tester, and cooling the container to stop further sterilization.

In testimony that I of canning cream which claim the foregoing as my invention, I aflix my signature in the gesence of two witnesses, this 26th day of ctober A. D. 1918.

CHARLES EDWIN FENLON. Witnesses:

TAYLOR E. BROWNE, BERTHA'L. OGREGOR.

fresh cream and treating 

